My in progress build.

CrystalViolet · 2012-04-10, 06:17 PM

figured I'd post up what I intend to buy for my PS2 rig to see what the more experienced folks around here thought.

CPU i5 3570k

Mobo: ASUS Sabertooth Z77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131821

PSU: Corsair HX750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139010

RAM: 2 sticks of Mushkin 8gb DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226316

MSI GTX 560 TI (not 100% sure on this card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127565

HDD's will be my old set of raptors in raid 0 config with plans to go SSD a few months down the line.

still undecided if I will be using my GTX 260 core 216 as a dedicated PhysX card.

Any thoughts or revisions?

Goku · 2012-04-10, 06:30 PM

I would suggest getting a $170ish mobo instead of the sabertooth.

Do you plan on using 750W of power? If not go with 600W as you can get a quality unit for around $75.

RAM wise I would suggest keeping with 2x4GB as thats plenty for probably even the next 4 years. I don't think its worth the extra $80 unless you are making use of it somehow.

You can use those now spare funds to get a better video card. The GTX 670 should be out late April or early May. Right around the time the 3570K will be released. That will make your system a lot better then using a lowly GTX 560 Ti by comparison. You could even use your GTX 260 as a holdover till its release.

The HDD plan sounds like a good given how bad prices are atm.

CrystalViolet · 2012-04-10, 06:39 PM

Good thoughts. The mobo is mostly a vanity thing, but I'll consider looking at cheaper boards.

I probably wont be using all 750 watts, but it's nice to have a little bit of room for future SLI possibilities, and I can see the modular nature being very handy when trying to make everything look clean inside the case. What do you like for a 600w supply?

I would agree about the ram, but unfortunately my other hobby (digital music production) can be very ram intensive when using large sample libraries.

Goku · 2012-04-10, 06:56 PM

Do you have a window on your current/planned case? Otherwise no matter how pretty it looks you won't be seeing the motherboard 99% of the time.

For a PSU you can get this PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 600W. Its modular and is a highly rated PSU.

If you can take advantage of the ram thats fine. I tend to avoid throwing money around for no reason. You can drop the speed down to 1333MHz to save $30 too. You won't notice the difference between the two speeds at all.

CrystalViolet · 2012-04-10, 07:07 PM

I went with the white corsair 600T with the window (found a really good deal).

interesting point onthe ram.

I

Goku · 2012-04-10, 07:11 PM

Yeah I forgot that case had that sorry lol. Its a great case. What are your thoughts on the video card option?

CrystalViolet · 2012-04-10, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by Goku

Yeah I forgot that case had that sorry lol. Its a great case. What are your thoughts on the video card option?

It's something I'm going to have to mull over. I'm currently using a 720p TV as a monitor (not ideal, I know), but I won't be running PS2 at any insane resolutions. once beta hit's we'll all have a better idea on how well it scales with current hardware, but I have a feeling the higher end GPUs might be a little over kill for my needs. My thinking is that in a few months when I can afford a new pannel I might opt for a 600 series card to compliment it.

Ailos · 2012-04-11, 05:14 PM

I concur with the card recommendation. PS2 isn't out yet either, so there shouldn't be too much to worry about with using the 260 until more of the 600 lineup comes out. And at that point, the prices will also solidify a little better all around the market.

If you're really intending on using the 260 as the dedicated PhysX card, you shouldn't rule out AMD cards either. And whatever your eventual video set up is, I'd actually advise with staying with the higher rating of 750W supply. It won't actually use significantly more power than a 600W if your 'puter doesn't need it, but you risk running into a brownout situation in the future if you do decide to have a dedicated PhysX card on top of your RAID and SSD setup. Obviously it is more expensive, but I think the flexibility it affords you is worth it.

Goku · 2012-04-11, 05:17 PM

I don't think using a GTX 260 is even worthwhile as a PhysX card due to how power hungry it is. Better selling that off and getting a lower end card that uses far less power. I still think 750W is way overkill. I'd advise against even using a PhysX in the majority of situations. We still do not even know how much it will help with PS2 performance with PhysX enabled.

CrystalViolet · 2012-04-11, 07:13 PM

yeah, that's what I'm really interested in seeing. I know a lot of people around here will be doing benchmarks when beta hits. I'll try to do some card shuffling to help out if I make it in the first wave.

CrystalViolet · 2012-04-11, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by Ailos

I concur with the card recommendation. PS2 isn't out yet either, so there shouldn't be too much to worry about with using the 260 until more of the 600 lineup comes out. And at that point, the prices will also solidify a little better all around the market.

If you're really intending on using the 260 as the dedicated PhysX card, you shouldn't rule out AMD cards either. And whatever your eventual video set up is, I'd actually advise with staying with the higher rating of 750W supply. It won't actually use significantly more power than a 600W if your 'puter doesn't need it, but you risk running into a brownout situation in the future if you do decide to have a dedicated PhysX card on top of your RAID and SSD setup. Obviously it is more expensive, but I think the flexibility it affords you is worth it.

I'm kind of nervous about using the 260 as a hold over because of how it's been preforming with more recent games. That said, I might be able to pick up a second 260 off ebay for dirt cheap. Might be a better option than going with the 560 ti.

Goku · 2012-04-11, 08:11 PM

If its a hold me over for the 600 series this year it wouldn't be a bad investment for $50 or so. What CPU do you have atm?

CrystalViolet · 2012-04-11, 08:37 PM

AMD X64 4200+. Pretty ancient at this point.

Goku · 2012-04-11, 08:40 PM

Even that CPU is holding back your GTX 260 lol. You will actually see a boost in GPU power due to the bottleneck being gone thanks to the 3570K.

Ailos · 2012-04-11, 08:56 PM

What ^ said. Your frustrations with that card's performance in more recent games is probably largely caused by the CPU's bottleneck. Simply using it on that 3570K won't solve the issue, but you WILL notice an appreciable performance gain.

All the more reason to just wait just a little longer. I've been wanting to upgrade my Radeon 5770 in time for PS2 (not complaining about its performance, I just think it's time to upgrade), but I want to first a) see how it performs in PS2 beta, b) suffers from lack of PhysX.

I still think that having an extra 150W in reserve isn't a bad thing. I'm not advising against the cheaper 600W supply, I just think that having that reserve means that you're less likely to encounter issues if you decide to spice it up with dual cards (hybrid, dedicated PhysX, SLI or otherwise). Investing that extra $70 now means you won't have to buy another PSU a 1/1.5 years from now (which'll still cost the same $150) when PS2 pushes out a new content expansion that makes you want to SLI your 600 card.